Political News

WASHINGTON -- Medical experts told a Senate committee Thursday that misguided information about early treatment contributed to giving the United States the world’s highest death rate from coronavirus. Some of them blamed the Food and Drug Administration for halting a... Read More

WASHINGTON — Political players have long had different ideas about national health care, but coronavirus not only shifted policymakers’ priorities, it has also thrown the future of health care reform into question.  The Bipartisan Policy Center convened leading pollsters and... Read More

ATLANTA — The vote recount in Georgia is expected to confirm the election results, as intended. But it also exposed flaws in voting systems that almost resulted in some ballots being overlooked. Election workers in three counties discovered a total of more than... Read More

ATLANTA — In the two weeks since the presidential election, U.S. Sen. David Perdue has held one public event, conducted a Fox News interview and announced he wouldn't participate in any debates with his Georgia runoff opponent, Jon Ossoff. The first-term Republican's opening strategy diverges sharply not only from Ossoff,... Read More

WASHINGTON — House Democrats will have to beat the odds, and history, if they are to keep the majority in 2022. Before they get there, they have to choose who will lead that fight. And the battle between Reps. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York and Tony Cardenas of California to... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of an obscure federal agency that is holding up the presidential transition knew well before Election Day that she might soon have a messy situation on her hands. Before Nov. 3, Emily Murphy, the head... Read More

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Elections Commission has agreed to issue an order to recount ballots in two heavily liberal counties at President Donald Trump's request, but only after hours of contentious debate that may foreshadow the partisan battle... Read More

DETROIT (AP) — Two Michigan Republicans who initially blocked certification of election results for the county that includes Detroit despite no evidence of fraud before approving them now say they want to rescind their certification. Monica Palmer and William Hartmann,... Read More

LONDON (AP) — The EU's efforts to rein in the power of big tech companies such as Google and Facebook through antitrust investigations have taken too long, dulling their effectiveness, a report said Thursday. Legal tools available to the bloc's... Read More

WASHINGTON -- Federal agency executives and senators at a Capitol Hill hearing Wednesday showed strong support for continuing telework among government employees even after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides. They said telework is bringing down their costs and improving the quality... Read More

WASHINGTON - House Democrats nominated Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to lead the chamber for another two years on Wednesday in a virtual voice vote that reflected a triumphant rebound in her stature among members, two years after a rebellious faction... Read More

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — President Donald Trump's refusal to cooperate with his successor is forcing President-elect Joe Biden to seek unusual workarounds to prepare for the exploding public health threat and evolving national security challenges he will inherit in just... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump fired the nation’s top election security official, a widely respected member of his administration who had dared to refute the president’s unsubstantiated claims of electoral fraud and vouch for the integrity of the vote. While abrupt, the... Read More

ATLANTA (AP) — Election officials across Georgia are staring down a Wednesday deadline to complete a hand tally of the presidential race in the state. The hand recount of nearly 5 million votes stems from an audit required by a... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the longest-serving Republican senator and third in the line of presidential succession, said he has tested positive for the coronavirus. Grassley, 87, had announced earlier Tuesday that he was quarantining after being exposed... Read More

DETROIT (AP) — In an abrupt about-face, Michigan's largest county on Tuesday night unanimously certified election results showing Democrat Joe Biden defeating President Donald Trump, hours after Republicans first blocked formal approval of voters' intentions. The initial move was quickly... Read More

WASHINGTON - A Senate committee left little doubt Tuesday that changes are coming to social media giants Facebook and Twitter for their policies on controlling content posted on their websites. Democrats and Republicans at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing accused... Read More

WASHINGTON - The abbreviated transition caused by the Trump administration's refusal to recognize President-elect Joe Biden's victory could impair the new president's ability to fill the more than 1,200 executive branch jobs requiring Senate confirmation, a new report says. The... Read More

WASHINGTON — The recent U.S. election left much for both Americans and European allies to process in terms of the shaping of U.S. politics and global affairs.  President-elect Biden, historically a committed trans-Atlanticist, has reaffirmed his commitment to European allies... Read More

WASHINGTON - Rep. Gary Palmer has been elected chairman of the Republican Policy Committee for the 117th Congress. This is the Alabama Republican's second consecutive term as chairman, his having held the post in the 116th Congress. “I’m grateful to... Read More

WASHINGTON - President-elect Joe Biden announced several appointments to his White House senior staff on Tuesday, assembling his administration even as President Donald Trump continues to refuse to acknowledge the Democrat's election victory. Mike Donilon, the chief strategist for Biden's... Read More

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced more than $1.9 million in matching grants will be awarded to 161 local tourism initiatives as part of Virginia Tourism Corporation’s Recovery Marketing Leverage Program.  The tourism body revised its traditional marketing program, creating the... Read More

WASHINGTON - It's the election insiders were talking about while most of America was still wondering what would happen on Election Day. Every two years, the election of a new Congress is followed closely by caucus leadership elections. On Tuesday,... Read More

ATLANTA — Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham asked him if he had the power to reject more absentee ballots as election officials are conducting a recount and audit of the presidential race. Raffensperger, in an interview with The Washington Post on Monday, said the South Carolina senator... Read More

Behind President-elect Joe Biden's plans to drive the U.S. back to full employment after the coronavirus slump lies a long-lost idea: The unemployed need jobs, not skills. That "run it hot" recipe for recovery is back in favor among policymakers — including, crucially, at... Read More

WASHINGTON — Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday she would press ahead early next year with a campaign finance and elections overhaul, even as the measure may face the same Senate fate it did this Congress: doom. House Democrats passed their signature overhaul measure in March 2019 and dubbed it... Read More

WASHINGTON — Amid indications President Donald Trump will move to slash the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq before he leaves office, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell attacked the idea in a blistering Senate floor speech Monday. McConnell has been almost unfailingly loyal to Trump, but the Kentucky Republican has openly pushed back... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is rushing to issue permits, finalize major environmental regulations and even sell the rights to drill for oil in Alaskan wilderness before Inauguration Day in a push that could complicate Joe Biden's climate and conservation agenda. The eleventh-hour regulatory race... Read More

CHICAGO — Democratic U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos of Illinois said Monday she had tested positive for COVID-19 and is isolating at home with mild symptoms. Bustos, 59, who survived a closer-than-expected bid for reelection to a fifth term earlier this month, announced her diagnosis on Twitter, saying... Read More

WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden, faced with worsening economic and health crises, on Monday called for action from two political forces beyond his control: Congress, which is deadlocked over economic relief, and President Donald Trump, who refuses to concede the election and share information... Read More